Architecture – Cloud Marathoner's Journey

New session announcement – Are you interested to unlock your AKS skills with Azure bicep language?

Hello Cloud Marathoner friends!

If you are into managed Kubernetes services and Infrastructure as a Code implementation on Microsoft Azure, then keep reading.

Session Announcement

Next week. join our tech-savvy workshop with Kasun Rajapakse, an Azure MVP and Docker Captain. In this festive session for the Festive Tech Calendar event, we will unwrap the wonders of Azure Kubernetes Service (also known as AKS) provisioning using the Bicep language and showcase the latest AKS features.

What will be covered?

In this jolly session, we’ll delve into the secrets of deploying AKS clusters with Bicep, turning your cloud infrastructure into a winter wonderland of efficiency and scalability. Whether you’re an experienced elf or a newbie on Santa’s list, this session is perfect for everyone eager to harness the power of Azure Kubernetes Service.

What you need to do before session?

Get ready to sleigh your cloud game with our festive demonstrations of AKS features. Deck the halls with knowledge and cheer as we bring the magic of AKS and Bicep to life!

Call to Action

Please come prepared to our session with your great questions on gears and skills that elves need to learn about. Your help to get them prepared will be appreciated very deeply.

Join elves for a holly jolly tech adventure session with the details below:

📆 Event Date: Dec 21, 10 am EST
📌 YT Channel 👉 https://lnkd.in/ehkCwVep
🐈‍⬛ GitHub repo 👉 https://lnkd.in/eUUTxBhE

Book Giveaway: “Solution Architect’s Handbook” ruffle results for the #CloudMarathoner community

Hi, my dear Cloud Marathoner community!

A few weeks ago, I received an AWS book from Packt – “Solution Architect’s Handbook”, authored by Saurabh Shrivastava and Neelanjali Srivastav. This post will share my review with the #Cloud Community.

The third edition of the Solutions Architect’s Handbook is an invaluable resource for cloud engineers, developers, and architects. The book provides much-needed guidance on embracing cloud-native architectures and microservices. It addresses the urgent need for operational resiliency, disaster recovery, and business continuity, making it a must-have for professionals navigating the complexities of today’s cloud-centric environment.

The book’s comprehensive coverage spans from cloud migration and modernization to the cutting edge of machine learning and GenAl. It skillfully bridges the gap between legacy modernization, including mainframe considerations, and the latest in GenAl foundation models and tools. This deep dive into the trends shaping the future of architectural design is both enlightening and practical.

What sets this book apart?

What sets the Solutions Architect’s Handbook apart is its holistic approach. It covers a wide range of crucial aspects, from functional architectures and integration to extensibility, reusability, usability, accessibility, cost management, and security. The breadth of topics and practical insights make it a must-read for both aspiring and seasoned architects.

About Author

Authored by Saurabh and Neelanjali, who bring their rich experience to the table, this handbook provides much-needed guidance for those striving to excel in the evolving landscape of solution architecture. It offers a forward-looking perspective on distributed application development and the rapid embrace of cloud-native solutions, reflecting the shifting paradigms in technology architecture and evolving project needs.

📌 Check out my social media post on LinkedIn page here.
#SharingIsCaring ❤️

As I already announced, the lucky 🤞 5️⃣ readers of this post will be notified via LinkedIn message.

As always, subscribe to the #CloudMarathoner LinkedIn #tag 👏👀
Stay tuned for more Cloud, Automation & and Security-related posts.

Join the Automating Golden Image Creation with AWS Image Builder session with Cloud Marathoner and Amit

Hello Cloud Marathoner freinds!

Last week, we had an engaging session with our speaker guest – Amit Tidke an AWS Community Builder. This session was helpful for everyone who wanted to learn more about building and managing images using AWS Image Builder.

Golden VM images ensures consistency, security, and efficiency across your AWS infrastructure. In this session, we have explored how to leverage AWS Image Builder to use compliant golden VM images. The agenda of this session includes:

1. Importance of Hardened Golden Images:
2. Creating an Image Recipe
3. Infrastructure Configuration
4. Components and Pipelines
5. Distribution and Lifecycle

Without any further due, I would encourage you to check our recording in the Cloud Lunch and Learn (CLL) YouTube channel below.

Join my session on Global Azure 🚀 2024 – to get started in your Cloud Architect learning journey. 💪

Greetings to all #CloudMarathoner friends!

This week, we have a wonderful opportunity to learn from a number of different sessions by attending the Global Azure 2024 event. Yay!

Generally speaking, this event is a huge success as Microsoft community members all over the world are celebrating this occasion by submitting their session for acceptance. This year, I submitted my session with the Microsoft community in the USA, called GIMME CLOUD TALKS.

Global Azure 2024, catalog of sessions

As a #CloudMarathoner we submitted one session with a title – “How to get started in your Microsoft Azure Architect learning journey?”

And as you may already know, it was accepted by one of the organizers. Wooho!!!

Check out the LinkedIn post on this unique event!

In this lightning talk, I shared bits and tips on how you could get started in your Cloud Architect journey. Namely, we focused on designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions exam objectives which is an important part of the AZ-305 exam.

By the end of the session, you should be well-informed on how to start your cloud learning journey and build toward your desired goal of becoming a Cloud Architect. As a complimentary bonus, I shared community created learning resources that will boost your knowledge, and help you get prepared for an important exam in 2024.

Please, check the recorded session below and let me know your feedback. Thank you!

Festive Tech Calendar session – Unboxing the Festive Design patterns with Santa

Hello Cloud Marathoner friends,

I was thrilled that my both sessions have been accepted for the Festive Tech Calendar 2023 events. The first session has been already announced and posted with a #cloudmarathoner community member and contributor, Kasun which is referenced below.

Dec 23 session with Kasun Rajapakse: “The 12 Bicep 💪 Tips of Christmas”
Dec 28th session: “Unboxing the Festive Design Patterns with Santa”

Today’s post is dedicated to the second session where we will embark on a cloud journey with Santa. Santa will be helping us to understand something about clouds, but not the fluffy white ones in the sky – we’re talking about those special computer clouds!

Here is the festive description of the session:

So, imagine all the important things that people do with their computers, like making games, apps, and websites. These things need a special place to live so they can work properly. That special place is like a magical cloud where you can keep all those important things safe and make them work really well.

Now, the clever grown-ups who help with these computer things are learning more about how to use this cloud in the best way. They want to make sure everything in the cloud works just right. To do this, they plan carefully and design everything perfectly, like how we plan Santa’s route on Christmas Eve to deliver presents.

In a special meeting, they will talk about something called “design patterns.” These are like tricks and plans to help make sure everything in the computer cloud is super safe, works really well, and can grow if more people use it. It’s a bit like Santa’s workshop, where we have special patterns for making toys.

So, you see, just like Santa prepares for Christmas, these clever people are getting ready to make the computer cloud a better and safer place for everyone. It’s like their own magical holiday season for computers! 🎅🌟🖥️
Festive Tech Calendar 2023 session

So, if you are intrigued with it then please check my recorded session to learn about the Festive Cloud design patterns > https://youtu.be/Yj-lXf1l1ng?t=17

Wish you all Happy Holidays and Happy New Year !!!

Should you consider Azure 🚀 Blueprints for your new ⛅ projects ⁉ 🤔

Hello friends,

During my recent project engagement, I was checking on status of the Azure Blueprints – a service which is still in Preview. I was surprised and alerted with the note I saw on the documentation page. Namely, service is scheduled to be deprecated.

What is Azure Blueprints (Preview)?

First thing first, this is a service that we use in Governance of Azure resources. This preview service allows the engineers and architects to sketch a project’s design parameters, by enabling cloud architects and central information technology groups to define a repeatable set of Azure resources that implements and adheres to an organization’s standards, patterns, and requirements.

What to do if you are using it?

No worries here. If you already using this service, then plan to migrate your existing blueprint definitions and assignments to Template Specs and Deployment Stacks. Your existing Blueprint artifacts could be converted to ARM JSON templates or Bicep files used to define deployment stacks.

When is the deadline?

Well, all the Blueprints (Preview) will be deprecated on July 11, 2026. Thus, you should have enough time to make the transition to Template Specs and Deployment Stacks.

📌 Reference to Microsoft Learn page on this announcement.
📌 Reference to the LinkedIn post 👉 Should you consider Azure 🚀 Blueprints for your new ⛅ projects ⁉ 🤔

what is next?

Are there any other cloud services ⛅ that will be deprecated soon ⁉🤔
Please, share below in the 💬 comments section.

🔔 If you see any recommendations or suggestions to use Azure Blueprints on Microsoft Learn pages, please ping me back.

Thank you in advance 😉

How could you easily create new pre-configured 🚀 Azure subscriptions that meet your organization’s specific needs ⁉ 🤔

Hello, dear #CloudMarathoner community!

If you have been implementing your customers with the management of enterprise subscriptions and policies, then it is a pretty common need to automate the provisioning of those subscriptions in a controlled and secure manner.

The good news is that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel and do everything from scratch. The Microsoft team that is behind the Azure Landing Zones implementation has a good reference that could tremendously help you.

Microsoft Global Customer Success team

Have you ever checked the subscription vending IaC Modules from the Microsoft Global Customer Success team (the same team behind Azure Landing Zones)?

Subscription Vending IaC Modules

Well, if not then Subscription Vending IaC Modules are available for you in two popular infrastructure-as-code (IaC) tools: Bicep and Terraform.
AND designed to help you implement the best practices for subscription provisioning.

Why use these modules?

Using these modules, you can quickly and easily provision new Azure subscriptions that are pre-configured to meet your organization’s specific needs. The modules include parameters/variables for Role-Based Access Control, Networking, Tags, and more.

📌 Check out the Bicep 💪 Landing Zone vending module for Azure a GitHub repo 👉 https://lnkd.in/dJRiK5yG

📌 Check out the Terraform landing zone vending module for Azure a GitHub repo 👉 https://lnkd.in/dtndsfXr #sharingiscaring ❤️

In Summary

So, what is your preferred way to provision Azure subscriptions ⁉ 🤔
Please, share your feedback 💬 in the comments or in the following LinkedIn post.

New episode on Azure Stack HCI & Azure Arc

Hello freinds,

Last week, we had an engaging session on Cloud Lunch and Learn meetup about exploring Azure Stack HCI and Azure Arc with Thomas Bründl .

Azure Stack and azure arc

In this post, I will reflect upon some major points in this session that covers:

Azure in Hybrid & Multi-Cloud Scenarios
Managing existing infrastructure on-premises in Azure
Getting you familiar with using hybrid Azure services with focus on Azure Arc and Stack HCI

What was covered?

Our guest speaker covered the following topics in his presentation:

Evolving services in Azure Infrastructure
Azure Arc
Azure Stack HCI
Azure Arc Jumpstart
References to how to get started with Azure Stack HCI and connectivity

Summary

At the end of the session, we had an interactive Q&A (Questions and Answers). Please check the recording and reference links as the recording is uploaded to the Cloud Marathoner YT channel.

Thank you for stopping by and checking this session!

Session about Architecting 🚀 a Modern Analytics Cloud Data Platform with Warner

Hello Cloud Marathoners,

Yesterday, we had an engaging session on Cloud Lunch and Learn meetup about Azure Architecture, particularly for Modern Analytics Cloud Data Platform with Warner Chaves.

Modern Analytics

In this post, I will reflect upon some major points in this presentation and architecting session.

**Session details and recorded YT link**

What was covered?

Our guest speaker covered the following topics in his presentation:

Reference architecture for modern analytics platforms
Data Warehousing
Big Data
Lakehouse
Data Mesh and more in Microsoft Azure

Summary

At the end of the session, we had an interactive Q&A (Questions and Answers). Please check the recording and reference links as the recording is uploaded to the Cloud Marathoner YT channel.

Thank you for stopping by and checking this session!

Getting you ready for Azure Architect AZ-305 exam!

Hello Cloud Marathoners,

Thank you everyone who took a time from their busy schedule and attended my Global Azure 2022 session – Getting you ready for Azure Architect exam!

It was great pleasure to interact with each of you, and Thank You for great questions that you brought during the session.

**Getting you ready for Azure Architect AZ-305 exam**

In this session, I focused on a number of changes in Microsoft Azure Architect exam, as it might be troublesome to get ready for it with all the digital distractions around us.

However, in this lightning talk, I shared bits and tips on how to focus on the AZ-305 Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions exam objectives and help you to prepare for a big day.

**A screenshot from the participants comments**

As part of this presentation, I have shared free, official and community learning resources that will boost your knowledge, and hopefully help you pass this important exam with confidence.

**A screenshot of an official practice exam reference**

If you missed this session, no worries, you are covered, as this session was recorded. It is freely availiable on the #cloudmarathoner ⏯ 🖐 YouTube channel here.

The slides and as well as links to the recommended resources are posted on my 🖐 👨‍💻 GitHub repo here.

Please, feel free to check up this GitHub repo, share & fork it as you like 👍